I can't believe it, it's week 7 already of my Army course here at Fort Benning. I never thought I'd get a little nostalgic for this place and my friends, some I might not ever see again? When I arrived here on August 2nd I was hesitant, a little scared not knowing entirely how it'd go. Throw into that August heat and unmatched humidity I had never experienced before with full military gear on my body, and I thought I might not make it. I truely have never sweated so much for so long at every time of the night and day than what I have here in Georgia. It's truely an experience I hope I won't have to live over. You should count your lucky stars your not in the Army doing training down here.
I've said it before, but it's not the humidity but it's the humidity and the fact that you are wearing a bunch of army equipment on your body: unbreathable uniform jacket, 20 lbs of bullet proof vest, tactical vest with all sorts of crap on it, 6 lbs kevlar helmet, your rifle and whatever else you have with you, whether it a ruck sack or assault backpack. I can't think of one time where I went outside and my undershoot didn't get soaked with sweat and I had to experience that sweat, nasty, gross feeling the rest of the training day with long, long hours of training with long, long hours of sitting around in the hot sun and/or humidity.
Still, despite the "suck" of military life and how I often wonder why I'm here and what I'm doing? There is no greater feeling than knowing I'm one of less than 1% of the population who have volunteered to serve in the greatest army, in the greatest country ever to be established by God's hand in the history of the world. I have sworn an oath and agreed to protect and serve our Constitution and country till the very death. Wow, it's not often you can sit and think about what you've agreed to as a soldier. For me it's not as often as I think it should be. I look around me everyday here at Fort Benning and I see young and old men and women who are serving; in essence agreeing to give up alot to give something back. Yes some have their motivations for serving but in the end I can tell you now that the benefits most often do not add up to the gains. I'm proud to be part of an elite and more than that...a force that serves to uphold God given rights in not only this country but around the world!
Yesterday a friend who's a recent graduate of West Point military academy and a fellow LDS member shared that a friend from West Point was killed in Afghanistan the day before. It threw me into a somber and reflective mood. Like most of us serving and even those who know others serving you don't go around thinking about the actual purpose and ultimate task of the military. If you want to be blunt about it the military has to kill and destroy things. When you have to accomplish those types of missions humans have to lose their life. It's part of the job. So when you see a man or woman in uniform you can ultimately bet that they know they've agree to put their life on the line so you and your old or young neighbor down the street doesn't have to. Yes, they know what they've signed up to do.
Here at Fort Benning when we're training various tasks from doing land navigation to firing weapons/guns and such your not thinking about taking a life or having yours taken. It's definitely somewhere in the back of your mind but if you think about it, you lose focus and aren't able to train to the standard. So..it stays in the back of your head, hidden by thoughts of motorcycles, or getting home to wife, family or if you'll get a lucky package of candy in your otherwise bland military MRE field packaged meal (Meal Ready to Eat)? It's interesting to be with your squad and platoon while your training because you feel like a little kid playing Army or guns with your buddies. It eventually comes to your foremind when you sit together and talk about what went right and wrong in the mission and what the outcomes would be...either casualty or death from a simple mistake or maybe just a matter of actions on the objective.
So as I finish this 7th week of school and pass over the 8th anniversary of our country's attack by evil people and remember the on going deaths of others in service I ask for your prayers. I ask for your prayers for the men and women risking to give up so very much, the most precious gift of all-God given life so that we and our future families can all live and appreciate them into the future. I pray that the Lord will continue to guide our country and it's leaders on the correct moral and religious track that birthed this great country.
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